Functional dissection of Drosophila melanogasterSUUR protein influence on H3K27me3 profile

In eukaryotes, heterochromatin replicates late in S phase of the cell cycle and contains specific covalent modifications of histones. SuURmutation found in Drosophila makes heterochromatin replicate earlier than in wild type and reduces the level of repressive histone modifications. SUUR protein was shown to be associated with moving replication forks, apparently through the interaction with PCNA. The biological process underlying the effects of SUUR on replication and composition of heterochromatin remains unknown. Overall design: Examination of H3K27me3 histone modification in Drosophila embryos in presence or absence of SuUR mutation.